Strollers, perambulators and other devices for transporting children with less physical strain for the parents and greater comfort for the child are well known.
Traditionally, strollers have necessarily been rigid and somewhat bulky so that in use they would provide proper support for the child and keep the risk of injury to the child to a minimum. As a contra to the requirement for rigidity, since space has become a premium, it is extremely desirable that the strollers be collapsible such that they may easily be stored or transported when not in use.
The desirability and convenience of transporting children on the back of an adult is likewise well known and in the past, devices have been manufactured which essentially convert a backpack frame to a child carrier through the utilization of modified support and enclosing structure. These backpack/carrying devices are necessarily limited in that they are not easily converted for other carrying purposes and in general do not collapse. It is therefore not convenient to store the devices when it is no longer necessary to carry the child on the back.
Prior art known to the applicant include U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,115 granted to Miller which discloses a four wheeled stroller wherein the wheel supporting legs are selectively collapsible upwardly transforming the stroller into a rigid backpack child carrying device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,837 granted to Kao on June 12, 1979 discloses a two-wheeled stroller having a rigid child enclosing framework wherein the handle may be collapsed downwardly allowing the device to be utilized as a backpack type carrier.
With the above noted prior art and the limitations thereof in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device which is rigid and safe to use as a stroller but which likewise may be easily partially collapsed and used as a backpack type carrier and further, totally collapsed to a convenient compact size for storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a stroller with a unitary rigid main frame member and auxiliary frame members pivotally secured thereto such that the entire device may be collapsed for transport and convenient storage.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lightweight collapsible stroller which includes all of the features necessary for the safety and comfort of the child.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a stroller including selectively articulated support frame member permitting the stroller to be partially or totally collapsed.